Mike McGuire Named Radford Women's Basketball Coach

A coach with ties to the area has been named Radford's new head women's basketball coach.

Mike McGuire, a William Byrd High School and Roanoke College graduate, will be introduced Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Dedmon Center Highlander Room on campus.

The past six seasons he was an assistant at Richmond. There - he was a part of a Spiders program that averaged 20 wins a season.

Before Richmond he coached the Hidden Valley girls to two state championships, going 55-and-5. Prior to that he coached at William Byrd.

Below is the bio profile from Richmond's athletic website:

Mike McGuire enters his sixth season with the Spiders, after helping guide the Spiders to an 101-60 record in five years, with wins averaging 20 victories per season. McGuire has also helped Richmond reach postseason play five-straight years.

In 2012-13, McGuire was named one of the top assistant coaches in the country by Florida Basketball Magazine. It was the second consecutive year McGuire received recognition as he was also named one of the top 14 mid-major assistant coaches by National Basketball Insider in 2012.

McGuire helped guide the Spiders to 20-win seasons in three of the past five years, including a 24-10 record (third most wins in program history), runner-up finish in the 2009 Atlantic 10 Tournament and the second round of the WNIT.

"Mike has really developed into a well respected coach across the country," said Shafer. "He is a very good communicator and his knowledge of the game is ever-growing. The teams Mike has been associated with all succeed and that is not a coincidence. He understands the importance of relationships and coaching. He has a great basketball mind who really helps our forwards as well as in scouting. He is also developing a very solid reputation as a great recruiter. Mike has a true desire to grow in this game, consequently, he is also seeking new knowledge or ideas to bring to our team. We are excited that we have him on our staff and look forward to the continued growth of our program with the help of Mike."

In 2011-12, the Spiders collected a 23-9 record, the most wins since 2009 and fewest losses since 2004-05. Richmond was awarded a bye in the A-10 Tournament for the third time in the last four years, after finishing in the top-4 and received a WNIT postseason bid for the fourth-straight year. Also in that year, McGuire helped develop two post players that received All Conference accolades in Genevieve Okoro (Third team honoree) and Liz Brown (All Rookie honoree).

From 2008-12, McGuire helped develop Abby Oliver, one of the most prolific scorers in program history. Oliver was awarded The Sixth Player of the Year in 2010 and All Conference first team in 2012. Oliver finished seventh on Richmond's all-time scoring list.

"I believe that our players will learn a great deal from him as he is very knowledgeable in the game of basketball," Shafer added. "He spends a lot of time watching, reading and discussing the game, so he provides a lot of new ideas. Mike's passion for the game is infectious; it will spread within our program."

McGuire's duties for the Spiders include: scouting coordinator, scheduling, recruiting and development of the post players and academic mentoring with the perimeter players.

The 2000 graduate of Roanoke College has a combined 15 years of coaching experience including 11 years at the high school level and five at the collegiate level. McGuire helped lead 21 athletes move on to play at the collegiate level.

"Mike is a valuable addition to our program," head coach Michael Shafer commented. "He comes from a great deal of success at Hidden Valley, where he truly built a great program."

At Hidden Valley McGuire led the team to two Group AA State Championships, two Regional Championships and two River Ridge District Championships going an impressive 55-5 in his short stint as head coach. With his success at Hidden Valley, McGuire was named Group AA State Coach of the Year, Regional Coach of the Year and River Ridge District Coach of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.

Prior to Hidden Valley, McGuire led the William Byrd High School girls basketball program from 2002-06 where he compiled 10 wins in his first year as a head coach, going 50-47 in four years. In his last season McGuire guided the program to its first regional post-season in seven years. While coaching at the high school level, McGuire accumulated a 105-52 record.

"Mike's greatest attribute is that he is a proven teacher," said Shafer. "His ability to teach, both on and off the floor, is a quality that really attracted me to him. He has a natural ability to relate to student-athletes and share his knowledge of the game."

Before coaching at the high school level, McGuire spent one season at Roanoke College as the head assistant for the men's team, and was also the recruiting coordinator. In addition, McGuire served as the Junior Varsity head coach. While at his alma mater, McGuire helped lead the men's basketball team to a 17-10 record, including 12-3 at home. McGuire was a recruiting coordinator and was instrumental in planning and organizing strategies for practices and games.